Smile
by Nolly-the-Lolly
Summary: Sequel to The New Girl. They've been dating for seven months. But what happens when a takedown goes wrong? CallenxOC, Densi, Neric, and the rest. Rated T.
1. Without Her

**Smile.**

**Chapter 1.**

_Authors' Note- So, I've decided to write a sequel to my first story **The New Girl,** which I suggest you read before reading this one, or else you'll be completely lost during the story. I hope you enjoy this story as much as you guys did the last time. Thanks for reading!_

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**Callen.**

Seven months. We've lasted seven months. Seven months together. Seven months without anyone else finding out about us, with the exception of the all-knowing Henrietta Lange, and Sam, who coaxed it out of me on a stakeout about five months ago. Seven months spent blissfully happy in each others' company. Every moment we've had free in these past months have been spent together. Every night that we weren't at work was spent at either my place or hers. At work, every glance, every smile, every laugh, was stolen in secret. The secret was what was killing me over the past few months, my desire to scream it out in Ops one morning was the thing that consumed me since we started dating.

Until she got shot.

The moment the bullet hit her chest, all those months of secret-keeping went out the window. No more stolen glances, no more furtive meetings, no more dodging calls or texts from The Wonder Twins, Nate, or Kensi and Deeks. No more deception. No more secrets.

The paramedics didn't leave anyone in the ambulance with her. Not even Nate. The ambulance pulled away, sirens blaring, without me inside it.

"Control yourself, G." Sam says to me, stopping my car from pulling away from the curb. "She's going to be fine."

"What if she's not?" I reply angrily, my voice breaking. "What happens then?" I say, staring at him. "I'm going to the hospital. Don't try to stop me."

I most likely break every driving law trying to get to the hospital. Even then, it takes me fifteen minutes. Freaking' LA traffic. I leave the car parked haphazardly in the parking lot, and race into the hospital.

"I need to get information on a patient who just arrived. Ava-Joy Connors." I tell the nurse at the reception desk, slightly out of breath, and flashing my ID.

"Yes, of course." She replies, quickly tapping keys on her computer. "She just went into surgery. Doctor Yang is the man you should talk to. He's in OR One. I'll take you there."

"Thank you." I say politely, fidgeting and urging to make my way to the OR.

"You can sit here and wait." The nurse says, pointing to a chair. "Dr. Yang will be out in a minute."

That minute felt like a lifetime.

"Agent Callen?" A man says, approaching me.

Surveying him quickly, I extend my hand shakily and reply, "Dr. Yang?"

"Yes. Please sit."

"How is she?" I ask quietly, sitting down.

"Well, I'm afraid it's not good. The bullet nicked her aorta, and then ricoched off her ribcage and collapsed her lung. She lost a lot of blood. It'll be hours before she's out of surgery. And even then, she may not make it." He answers politely and quietly.

I can't manage a single word. A lump the size of Texas has formed in my throat, and it seems like the Pacific Ocean is about to pour out of my eyes.

A nurse comes up behind Dr. Yang and says, "Doctor, you're needed."

"Thank you, Helen." He replies. "Why don't I leave you here to process this. Don't give up hope, Agent Callen."

I stare at the ground and don't move for what seems like an hour. I don't even look up when Nate, Kensi and Deeks come running around the corner.

"Callen." Kensi says, taking a seat beside me. "How-how is she?" She continues, fighting tears.

"I-It's not good Kens." I say unsteadily. "They don't think she's going to make it."

That comment reduces everyone to silence, and no-one speaks for the next few hours.

At 10pm, Kensi and Deeks are asleep in each others arms on the couch across from me.

Sam arrived three hours ago, and left a half hour ago to go home to Michelle, Zack and Zoe.

Nell and Eric can't leave Ops until midnight, but The Wonder Twins have a constant presence on our cellphones.

So, it's just Nate and I, left fidgeting in our seats, across the room from each other.

My jaw stays clenched for hours, unable to relax. I feel Nate's eyes reading my body language, but I couldn't care less right now.

It's Nate who breaks the silence, at 10:13pm.

"She's a fighter, Callen. She's going to make it."

It takes me a minute to reply. "Seven hours in surgery. Seven hours since she was shot. If she's not out by now, she's not going to pull through."

"You have to keep believing that she will." He insists.

Stirring from the couch across from us refocuses my attention. Deeks' arm is lazily slung around Kensi, who has laid her head down on her partners' chest. They, entwined in a mass of arms and legs, make me hope that AJ will get out of this alive. Because I can't live without her.

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**I have this up a little sooner than I expected. I hoped you enjoyed it. Please drop a review on the way out!**


	2. Time

**Chapter 2.**

_Author's Note- Sorry for being so late with this instalment. I've been kind of wrapped up in thinking of a new Once Upon a Time fic, which I could use some help in. Message me with any questions or tips and leave a review. Enjoy!_

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**Callen.**

"Give it to me!" She shouted as we both wrestled for control.

"My house, my rules, my remote." I reply, holding the object of her attention just out of her reach.

"G, come on! Pretty please?" She says, innocently batting her eyelashes in an attempt to win me over.

"Well...in that case..." I say, leaning into her, "no." I finish, leaping off the couch and sprinting towards the bedroom, leaving her stunned form leaning against the armrest of the grey sofa. "If you want it, come and get it." I say, waving the remote control around the corner of the living room wall.

"Come on! Can't we just compromise?" She shouts after me.

"Compromise?" I say, interested. "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, you know, something that wouldn't require the TV." She replies demurely. "Actually, something that would require very little of anything." She finishes, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"I don't think I know what you mean." I say coyly.

She smiles brilliantly and at that remark, she disappears into the living room, wielding the remote in her left hand.

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Well, that flashback didn't make me feel any better. It's been almost seven and a half hours since she was shot. An hour since I last got an update on her condition, which means that I should be due another one any second now. Except, seconds don't exist when she's not here. Only hours, and days, and weeks, and lifetimes. I stay completely still in my chair, my face expressionless. Hopefully. I don't even stir when Nate's phone rings, followed by a swift and professional 'hello'. Either Hetty, or someone else above his pay grade. He leaves for a few seconds, judging by the clock, but again, time is slowed, sluggish.

"Callen." An impish voice whispers, a voice belonging to Nell Jones. "Is there any news?"

It takes me a few minutes to swallow the lump in my throat and answer her question, and all I can manage is a simple 'no'.

Pixie- the name AJ coined for her when she first joined NCIS- decides to perch on a seat beside mine, as if trying to offer me comfort in a way that isn't obvious, because she knows that I don't want it.

"Hetty told me to give you this." Pixie murmurs, handing me a small, pristine white envelope, with the name G. Callen written across the front of it, in Hetty's elaborate calligraphy. I stare at the paper in my hands for a few moments, unable to bring myself to open it. But, a lifetime later, I do. Albeit, I do so slowly.

_The Only Exception._

Is all it says on the ivory parchment. Three words, and they almost reduce me to a puddle of tears.

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We had been dating for three months, and I had just gotten back from a two-week long Covert Op in Russia. We hadn't spoken in the two weeks that I was away, and I was so eager to hear her voice that I didn't even bother to go to my house to change clothes or get some sleep, which eluded me on the plane ride home. I pulled up to her house in a taxi, because Sam was in Cancun on a diving trip with some old SEAL buddies, and my car had been undergoing extensive repairs in the NCIS garage after a fire-fight broke out during our last case. It was a hot summer night, so her front windows were open just enough to let some fresh air into the small house.

As I approached, I heard a guitar playing faintly. Rhythmic strumming, followed by a small voice every now and then.

I stopped at the front door, and I poised my hand to knock, but the sound of the guitar and the singing stops me in my tracks.

"Maybe I know, somewhere,  
Deep in my soul,  
That love never lasts,  
And we've got to find other ways  
To make it alone  
Or keep a straight face,  
And I've always lived like this  
Keeping a comfortable, distance  
And up until now  
I had sworn to myself that I'm content  
With loneliness,  
Because none of it was ever worth the risk, well,

You, are, the only exception...  
You, are, the only exception...  
You, are, the only exception...  
You, are, the only exception."

The voice suddenly stopped. I looked up and realised the porch light was on, so she could see me standing there, listening intently.

The door in front of me swung open, revealing her stunning silhouette, shadowed against the bright light of the room behind her.

"I didn't know you played guitar." I say, raising an eyebrow.

A wide smile spread across her face, before she leapt up into my waiting arms.

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"Lucy. Lucy. Luce, calm down. I know, I know I didn't call." Nate says, quietly returning to his seat, his voice dissolving the memory. From across the room, and through a cellphone, I can hear the middle Connors sister screaming through the phone at her older sister's partner.

"Why the hell didn't you call?!" I hear Lucy shout into Nate's ear. "It's not like I'm unreachable, I'm only in DC!"

"Yes, Lucy. I know, I should have called." Nate sighs in response.

"I've just landed. I'll be at the hospital in ten. Call me if anything happens." She concludes.

"I wi-" Nate begins, only stopping to realise that Lucy had hung up.

He sits back in his chair, and no more than ten minutes later, Lucy comes rushing in the door, followed by a calm Dr. Yang.

"Doctor." Nate says, leaping off his chair. "How is she?"

"She's out of surgery. She will be a while recovering, and she's not out of the woods yet, but were hopeful. Everything went well during the operation, so there should be no complications." He pauses, allowing everyone to let a rush of breath out of their lungs. "We're moving her to the ICU in ten minutes. She'll be out of it for a day or two at least, but you are more than welcome to stay with her."

Dr Yang nods, and leaves the room. Kensi throws her arms lazily over Deeks, Eric wraps his arm over Nell's minuscule shoulders, and Lucy sheds a tear as she hugs Nate, who returns the favour.

The next ten minutes go by as slowly as ever, but when we are let into the ICU, I can barely look at her intubated form without a lump forming in my throat. Seven hours I had kept the tears in, but when I see her for the first time since she was shot, I cannot hold them in any more.

And I just let them fall.

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**Hope you guys liked this! And yes, I have been listening to Paramore religiously for the past few days. Please leave a review!**


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